Pacific Symphony announces the launch of a new online initiative called Pacific Symphony @ Home that curates free digital content to provide audiences with musical and emotional connection through the current period of difficulty.
“We’re pleased to share Pacific Symphony @ Home with our audiences,” commented President and CEO John Forsyte. “The generosity of our Symphony musicians sharing their artistry from their homes is profoundly touching at this unprecedented time. I think those who go online to Pacific Symphony @ Home will be astonished when they experience anew the world-class talent that makes up this orchestra.
Pacific Symphony’s new collection of free digital content is evolving and expanding on a daily basis. Audiences are encouraged to check back frequently for new additions of content. At present some of the highlights include:
* “Quarantine Clips” of Symphony musicians recording videos of performances and messages from their homes.
* Videos shot by Music Director Carl St.Clair on his cell phone from his home in Laguna Beach, providing YouTube listening picks and Spotify playlists.
* Alexander Romanovsky, who was set to play all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos with Pacific Symphony on March 19-22, sent a video from his home in Italy of an excerpt of the cadenza of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
* From the music room of his Irvine home, concertmaster Dennis Kim plays Beethoven’s Romance No. 2 in F Major, which was originally scheduled for the March 20 concert.
* “The Bach Project”—Principal Cellist Warren Hagerty is offering a movement a day from the Six Bach Cello Suites for a total of 36 movements.
* Facebook Watch Parties hosted by Associate Conductor Roger Kalia and his musicologist wife Christine and their adorable pup, Burney (named after the famous English music historian, Charles Burney).
* Concert highlights from this season’s concerts with newly curated content not posted online previously.
* Articles to entertain and inspire on the Symphony’s “Pacific Overtures” blog.
* “Arts Online” providing links to streaming music and culture from all over the world.
* Education and community resources to be added soon.
Currently, Pacific Symphony is dreaming of the day in the very near future when they will be performing for audiences again live. The poet Langston Hughes was right: a dream never dies, it’s just deferred.
Until then, let your laptop be your concert hall. #StartDreamingAgain
About Pacific Symphony
Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair since 1990, has been the resident orchestra of Orange County’s Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for over a decade. Currently in its 41st season, the Symphony is the largest orchestra formed in the U.S. in the last 50 years and is recognized as an outstanding ensemble making strides on both the national and international scenes, as well as in its own community of Orange County. In April 2018, Pacific Symphony made its debut at Carnegie Hall as one of two orchestras invited to perform during a yearlong celebration of composer Philip Glass’ 80th birthday, and the following month the orchestra toured China. The orchestra made its national PBS debut in June 2018 on Great Performances with Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” conducted by St.Clair. Presenting more than 100 concerts and events each year and a rich array of education and community engagement programs, reaching more than 300,000 residents of all ages.
Under Carl St.Clair, Pacific Symphony has achieved new heights of musical excellence while also diversifying its programming and expanding its community engagement activities. Through commissions, premieres, and recordings, the orchestra has become a champion of contemporary American music, with a discography devoted almost entirely to 20th- and 21st-century music by American composers, including William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Michael Daugherty and Philip Glass. The orchestra has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Naxos, Koch International Classics, Reference Recordings, and Sony Classical, among other labels.
Pacific Symphony has been recognized with multiple ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming and included among the country’s five most innovative orchestras by the League of American Orchestras. The Symphony’s education and community engagement activities have also been recognized by the League, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. These initiatives include community and youth concerts and ensembles, interactive events, masterclasses with guest artists, and classroom and summer programs for children.